Milo Cries Poverty: No One Will 'Buy Books, Tickets, or Donate'

It's tough to make a living in the troll biz, and Milo Yiannopoulos seems to be finding that out, according to a report at Vice.

In a recent series of posts at chat app Telegram - which Yiannopoulos called "a wasteland," evidently, in part, because of its limited reach - the openly gay provocateur (who was recently in Boston as the grand marshal of the thinly-veiled Trump rally that was presented as a so-called "Straight Pride" parade) complained about his inability to make any serious coin after having lost access to larger social media platforms.

"This 19k bullshit here is not going to cut it," the former Breitbart contributor griped. "It's nice to have a little private chat with my gold star homies but I can't make a career out of a handful of people like that. I can't put food on the table this way."

Yiannopoulos' aggrieved posts didn't get into the story of exactly how he lost that access; rather, he settled for pointing a finger at a nebulous "they."

"I spent years growing and developing and investing in my fan base, and they just took it away in a flash," he claimed.

An article at Splinter offered a quick précis as to the backstory:

As a refresher, Twitter and Facebook "took" Yiannopolous' platform "away" after he used the former to direct sexist and racist Twitter attacks against SNL star Leslie Jones, and the latter to promote white nationalism.

A favorite saying among the hard right praises those who have a "backbone instead of a wishbone," and similar nuggets of wisdom dismiss the situation of impoverished working people as a matter of not going out and getting a better-paying gig, but Yiannopoulos made no mention of those conservative bromides. Instead, he issued the apocalyptic (in a teacup, anyway) warning that "There's no future to Telegram for social media refugees if this is the best it gets."

Then there's the matter of the attention deficit: That is to say, the lack of people the professional troll can actually reach. Griped Yiannopoulos: "It's just not a good use of my time to be here. ...Talking to the same 1,000 people none of whom buy books, tickets to anything or donate".

It was unclear just where or how one should donate since Yiannopoulos also managed to get himself kicked off Patreon late last year after only a single day at that platform.

Said the company: "Milo Yiannopoulos was removed from Patreon as we don't allow association with or supporting hate groups on Patreon."

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor. He also reviews theater for WBUR. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.